Pregnant Austrian teen who ran off to join ISIS says she 'made a mistake'

Two Austrian teenage girls who ran away to Syria to join Islamic State fighters are beginning to regret their decision. Security service insiders told Austrian media that the girls have managed to contact families and one wants to go home.

The pair left home to join Islamic State (also known as ISIS, or
ISIL) in April. Little information was immediately known, aside
from that one had been 16 and one 14 at the time of their
departure. Both reportedly married Chechen fighters after their
arrival in Syria and became pregnant.

Samra Kesinovic and her friend, Sabina Selimovic, are children of
Bosnian migrants, but grew up in Vienna. On their departure from
Austria, they left a note, telling their parents: “Don’t look
for us. We will serve Allah – and we will die for him.”

Since their departure, pictures have emerged online of the pair
brandishing Kalashnikov rifles and wearing the full niqab.

However, Austrian police have claimed that their social media
accounts were overtaken and manipulated by IS.

“It is clear that whoever is operating their pages, it
probably is not the girls, and that they are being used for
propaganda,” a security expert told the Austrian Times.

Interpol released images of the two girls in April, after they
disappeared. Both sets of parents have been attempting to make
contact and unconfirmed reports have stated that communication
has been established.

Both are currently believed to be in Rakka, in northern Syria.
According to Vienna-based newspaper Österreich, Samra wants to
return home as the horrors of Syria “have become too
much.” The newspaper, which is known for its close links
both to the security services and the children’s families, says
that death is a “constant companion” for the girls.

There is some hope for women wishing to flee IS, however. In
recent days, a Syrian woman fled from IS to Turkey.

However, Sabina was reportedly “not yet ready to
return.”

Anyway, they may find attempts to return difficult.

“The main problem is about people coming back to Austria.
Once they leave it is almost impossible,” said Karl-Heinz
Grundboeck, a spokesman for the Austrian Interior Ministry.